No. 20

Liberace

Modern Artist Doll

Details

Artist

Lynn Harrison (Brampton, Ontario, Canada)

Original sculpt

'Ivan' by Rose Pinkul, Rose Pinkul Originals mold (28 in. man)

Portrays

The pianist Liberace

About this doll

A purple ostrich-feather cape, a sequined stage costume, rings on every finger and a hat: this doll recreates the stage persona of the legendary American entertainer Liberace. Lynn Harrison made him from Rose Pinkul's male sculpt 'Ivan'.

Reference material for the doll included stage photographs of Liberace and the 2021 documentary 'Look Me Over: Liberace', directed by Jeremy JP Fekete.

Background

Wladziu Valentino Liberace (1919-1987), born in Wisconsin, was a pianist and showman. His television show, broadcast from 1953, made him a national star, and in Las Vegas in the 1970s and 80s he earned 300,000 dollars a week, the highest-paid performer of his day. A candelabra on the piano, pianos covered in rhinestones and mirrors, ostrich-feather and mink capes and enormous jeweled rings were his trademarks; he called himself 'a one-man Disneyland'. His last performance was at Radio City Music Hall in New York in November 1986.

Rose Pinkul is an American doll sculptor who issued numbered plaster molds under the name 'Rose Pinkul Originals' in the 1990s: 27-inch lady dolls (Jasmine, Bess, Lynette, Amanda), 28-inch men (Ivan, Shaun) and children such as Poppy and Charlotte, all sized to be shown together as couples and families.

For questions about this doll, please send us a message on Instagram.